ISLAMABAD: The Accountability Court on Friday adjourned hearing of Thatta water supply reference involving former president Asif Ali Zardari and others without any progress, after it was informed that the defence counsel tested for Covid-19 after his family members diagnose positive for the disease.
The Accountability Court-II judge, Muhammad Azam Khan, while hearing the case, adjourned the case till November 16th after he was informed that Arshad Tabrez, counsel for Abdul Ghani Majid has tested for Covid-19, after some of his family members have tested positive for the coronavirus.
At the start of the hearing, counsels of Zardari, Abdul Ghani Majeed and other accused filed separate application seeking one-day exemption for their client before it, which the court approved.
When the judge inquired about the prosecution witness, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor replied that the witnesses were present in the court.
During the hearing, Tabrez associate informed the court that family members of his lead counsel tested positive for coronavirus. Tabrez has also tested for Covid-19 as well as he was not feeling well, due to which, he could not attend today's hearing, he further said.
The prosecution witness, Imran Farooq Deputy Commissioner enforcement and collection requested that he had to come from Karachi for hearing, therefore, record his testimony either today or after a month.
I have come for the fourth time, he further said. At this, the judge told him that the hearing could not be delayed for a long time, and hearing of the case would be held in the next few days.
Tabrez had started cross examination of the witness during the previous hearing. The witness during the previous hearing told the court that Commissioner Inland Revenue (IR) Shakeel Kasana had authorised him on March 20, 2019 through a letter to provide income returns and wealth statements of accused Abdul Ghani Majid, Menahel Majid, Khawaja Nimar Majid, and Noor Nimr to the NAB investigation officer (IO) Furqan Nadeem.
The judge said that Tabrez was regularly appearing before it, therefore, the hearing of the case was adjourned till November 16. The anti-graft body has nominated Asif Ali Zardari and 13 other suspects, in the supplementary filed in connection with the Thatta water supply scam.
The bureau had not nominated Zardari in the interim reference, and Ashfaq Leghari, and in-charge Naudero House Nadeem Bhutto, in the supplementary reference.
In interim reference, the bureau nominated 13 accused including Ejaz Ahmed Khan, former secretary of Special Initiative Department of Sindh, Hassan Memon, project director/chairman of the procurement committee for the water supply scheme, Thatta, members of the committee namely, Ali Akbar Abro, Aijaz Ahmed Memon, Athar Nawaz Durrani, Abdul Haleem Memon, Mohammad Farrukh Khan, Mohammad Ramzan, Mohammad Siddiq Sulemani, and Zeeshan Hasan Yousaf, a private contractor Harish, CEO Omni Group Khawaja Abdul Ghani Majeed, and Minahal Majeed.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020